Data Sense: Personal income from government sources small but growing

Steamboat Springs  The U.S. federal government shut down Oct. 1st because the House and the Senate were unable to agree on a continuing resolution to keep the government funded. The government shutdown is having some impact here in the Yampa Valley. For example, the Bureau of Land Management and Dinosaur National Monument essentially have closed down. In addition, the U.S. Forest Service is closed including the Hahn's Peak-Bears Ears Ranger District Office in Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Ranger District office in Yampa.

Brandon Owens

Data Sense

This monthly column is written by Yampa Valley Data Partners. It publishes on the first Sunday of the month in the Steamboat Pilot & Today. Read more columns here.

Although this is not an everyday occurrence, it is not without precedent. From 1976 to present, there have been 17 shutdowns like this one. The average length of past government shutdowns is 6.4 days. The most recent shutdown in 1995-96 was the longest. It lasted 21 days. So if history is any guide, the shutdown is likely to be resolved rather quickly. Nonetheless, the situation does bring to mind questions about the role of government here in the Yampa Valley. How much money actually flows from government coffers into the pockets of Yampa Valley residents? And how important are these funds to local income levels? Federal government statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis — data that was obtained before the shutdown disabled the BEA website — provides some answers.

Although it doesn’t provide a complete picture of the role of federal dollars in the Yampa Valley, the Bureau of Economic Analysis form CA04 provides insight on the share of personal income that is derived from what is known as “government transfers,” which represent a transfer of money from one group (taxpayers in this case) to another group (specific individuals who receive government benefits in this case). Note that government transfers are revenue neutral and simply represent a shifting of funds from one group to another.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis CA04 statistics at the county level are available through 2011. According to the data, total personal income in 2011 was $1.14 billion. If we divide total personal income by the 2011 population estimate, we find that per capita personal income in 2011 was $51,628. Per capita income actually increased by 6.1 percent in 2011 relative to 2010. So, as of 2011, the residents of Routt County were getting wealthier once again after experiencing reductions in personal income in 2009 and 2010 as a result of the Great Recession.

Things get interesting when we examine the components of personal income. According to the data, 53 percent of personal income in 2011 came from wages and salaries; 28 percent came from dividends, interest and rent; 12 percent came from small-business profit (called “proprietors’ income” by the Bureau of Economic Analysis); and 7 percent came from government transfers. This includes all income from federal and state governments including, but not limited to, welfare, Social Security and health care.

An examination of the historical trend reveals that the share of personal income from wages and salaries is falling, and the share of income from government transfers is slowly rising. In 2000, wages and salaries accounted for 60 percent of personal income and government transfers accounted for 4 percent. Back in 1980, wages and salaries accounted for a full 71 percent of personal income and government transfers accounted for 4 percent. What will these shares look like in the future? Well, government transfers generally are higher for older individuals than for working-age adults. Given the fact the fastest growing population segment in the Yampa Valley is adults 50 and older, it is likely government transfers will account for an increasing share of personal income over time.

Of course, the Bureau of Economic Analysis numbers do not tell us whether it is sustainable to have government support programs that account for an increasing share of personal income over time, and these numbers certainly do not provide any clues about how to resolve the nation’s budgetary challenges. However, they do provide some context for the role of government here in the Yampa Valley. Indeed, the statistics tell us that a small but increasing amount of local personal income comes directly from government sources.

Comments

So the fact that the average age of the county is increasing so there are more people on social security is irrelevant to their being an increase in government payments? Seriously, it is so shallow to present data trends without noting the obvious other underlying trends affecting the results

Amazing how much less informative these articles have become when not written by Scott Ford.

Brandon- Did Routt County residents really get 6.1% wealthier in 2011 or did we simply continue the trend of the previous 6 years of flushing out lower income people and replacing them with wealthier people which resulted in a massive increase in personal income? This newspaper recently reported a 10% annual turnover in the population from 2004 to 2010.

While I appreciate your reporting of raw data, please do not interpret it for us.